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Under a moon tinged with red light.
The earthen corpse named Konoha lay sprawled in the distance, framed by the converging silhouettes of two colossal stone giants.
The Valley of the End.
A boy in black robes sat atop the head of his own stone likeness, mourning a past that could never return.
His gaze was level with the stony face of his greatest friend and rival—a monument that would never speak.
Madara wore a smile, a rare sight.
"Hashirama," he murmured, voice carried by the wind. "You're gone. The village you died to protect… I crushed it. Yet, I found new life in the flesh of your own descendant. I gained power surpassing even our primes. Ironic, isn't it? But that's reality. I told you… the game's just begun. The one who laughs last, wins."
Whoosh…!
A fierce gust swept past, whipping his black cloak across his vision.
As the fabric fell… a figure in white had already appeared atop the stone Hashirama opposite him.
He saw the boy's face. Madara's smile widened, brilliant and sharp.
"Half an hour still until our appointed time. You're more punctual than your brother, it seems…"
"Idle time serves no purpose. I don't cram for a fight at the last second."
Sasuke's tone was flat. He flicked his white cloak and settled down on Hashirama's stony head.
Yes. This duel was different from the previous nine. Special. Not just in meaning, but in the opponent. The added weight it carried was worth arriving early.
Madara propped his chin on a hand, eyes boring into Sasuke. "An ordinary Mangekyō… yet it holds stories far beyond your years."
Sasuke's gaze swept the surroundings. "The black creature. And your brother. They're not with you."
A dry chuckle. "Ah. So you dislike having the conversation led, just like me. Fine. I… disposed of Black Zetsu. As for Izuna… he grew disobedient. I've confined him for now. Suspicious, controlling… my worst flaws. Seems I can't shake them."
"…" Sasuke fell silent, thoughtful.
Black Zetsu. Back then, he told Jiraiya… he tampered with the Black Cursed Seal. That if he, the caster, was too far, Naruto would die.
So it was a bluff. To stop us from forcibly taking Naruto.
Wait… 'disposed of.'
Is Black Zetsu truly gone?
"Hahahaha! Anyway, to face you, I've cast off all burdens!!"
Madara's laughter pulled Sasuke from his thoughts.
Sasuke's cold eyes lifted. "Spare me. You didn't shed your burdens for our fight. You did it for your Moon's Eye Plan."
He was probing. Testing if this Madara, severed from Black Zetsu, still clung to the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"Ha! True enough," Madara conceded, still grinning. "But if not for this duel, I'd have hunted down that traitor Obito long ago to reclaim what's mine!"
So… he hasn't abandoned the plan, Sasuke noted internally.
Then, Madara's gaze darkened.
"Black Zetsu… revealed some things. About you. Never imagined… you'd share my fate. The fate of Indra's transmigrant."
"!" Sasuke's eyes flickered, almost imperceptibly.
Black Zetsu… told him about the transmigrants?
No matter how fast his mind worked, how could he guess that Asura's consciousness had once awakened within Madara? That they had conversed? Such a thing never happened in the previous life.
Unaware of Madara's true intent, Sasuke responded without hesitation. "So what?"
Ah… Madara's mind, ever sharp, processed it. He knows about the transmigrants too. And he assumes Black Zetsu knew. Indeed… Uchiha Sasuke. His experiences are far more than what exists in Uzumaki Naruto's memories.
"Sasuke…" Madara's eyes met his, a hand rising to touch the back of his own neck. "The one called Orochimaru… he's crucial to your current strength, isn't he? I hear even Black Zetsu's 'Black Cursed Seal' concept… originated from him."
"Stop digging into my affairs," Sasuke's voice grew heavy. "Talk about yourself. Occupying another's body. Destroying another's village. Do you feel no shred of remorse?"
The question was batted back, tone equally grave. "No… I'm not digging. I must speak of you. Sasuke. You're under my brother's 'Aya Kashiko' dōjutsu. You can't be unaware. Two months have passed. One more, and the technique activates. That Orochimaru… has he found no solution yet?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. "Ah. I'd almost forgotten, if you hadn't mentioned it. Don't trouble yourself over it. Worry about your own situation."
"Let me be blunt, Sasuke." Madara leaned forward. "Do you think I'm trying to scare you? The dōjutsu is real. Three months means three months. I used it on the man beneath you right here, in this valley. Three months later… Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage who ended the Warring States Era, closed his eyes forever. Even if you wield Hashirama's power… death is inescapable."
"Then isn't that better for you?" Sasuke shot back. "Why warn me?"
"I'll be direct. The reason… you should know it. You've met Izuna."
"And besides that?"
"You possess Hashirama's power. Your temperament… resembles mine. Furthermore, aside from your less-than-pleasant brother and that waste Obito… you and I are the last Uchiha alive. And we are both Indra's transmigrants!"
"And besides that?!" Sasuke pressed, relentless.
Madara's brow furrowed. "That… is not enough?"
"You only emphasize external factors."
"…Fine."
Madara sighed. He raised a hand and pressed it against his own chest.
"For some reason… this body holds a powerful 'attachment' to you. It began with Naruto. But when I faced you in Konoha's ruins… that attachment, which I had identified and dismissed… became an uncontrollable wildfire. Burning within me, within Uchiha Madara himself! Because of this, Sasuke… I truly do not wish for you to become my enemy!!"
"…" Sasuke's gaze remained lowered, intense.
"Sasuke. I don't know what you've experienced. What your goal is. But I, Madara, swear on my pride! If you assist me… I am willing to grant you equal authority over the Moon's Eye Plan! After the Ten-Tails is revived… I will split it in two. Half for you, half for me. Together… we shall become the Sage of Six Paths!"
Slowly, he lowered his hand.
His voice dropped, final and heavy.
—"Well?… This is the only way I can conceive to save you from 'Aya Kashiko.' And likewise… the greatest concession I, Uchiha Madara, am capable of making!!!"
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